Breakfast was great, too, and before long we were off to the park again! It
was quite foggy and overcast as opposed to yesterday, but the first thing to
greet us was a tree-full of Red-billed Pigeons! Barry was pointing out Inca
Doves when a saltator called down the way, so we went to chase that, when
suddenly someone spotted a gorgeous Streak-backed Oriole! He even showed off his
streaky back!

Excellent example of the difference
between left-brained men and right-brained women...

“Okay, let’s go find
some birds!”

L-R: What we were looking at
(Red-billed Pigeons), Grayish Saltator, and Streak-backed Orioles

Before long my first life bird (or
flock, actually) came tearing in: Blue-rumped Parrotlets! They gave great looks
for the most part, and shot in and out before shooting out for good. Barry then
tried unsuccessfully to call in a Gray Hawk that was yelling, but we were able
to get on an intermediate morph Swainson’s Hawk in with the TVs.

Continuing on, Barry found a Ruddy
Ground Dove on a berm, and several Broad-billed Hummers put on a show. While we
had been enjoying the oriole a Green-tailed Towhee called in a bush. We circled
around and found a Kiskadee on top of a dead tree, but with him was a little
Social Flycatcher!

Watching the TVs Barry (or someone)
spotted a low Zone-tailed Hawk, and he explained that their mimickry of the TVs
is part of their hunting strategy: their prey doesn’t suspect a flock of
circling TVs to do any harm, and before they know it, the Zonetail has circled
low enough to pounce! Then right after that lifer #2 called from the big trees:
Purplish-backed Jays! They came in like a pair of big Scrubbies, giving a great
show!

We circled around to the back fence
after finally finding an adult Gray Hawk, and Barry confirmed that that was the
place for White-collared Seedeater! (I thought I had seen one the day before...)
He was very cooperative, giving great shots (striking little bird, a candidate
for a split into Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater), along with another Violet-crowned
Hummer. A Bell’s Vireo sang, and a nice Plumbeous Vireo came out to the owl
tape, but a Happy Wren wasn’t nearly as cooperative (I will consider it a minor
miracle when I actually see one)! But the real icing was a Black-capped
Gnatcatcher that Barry had seen the day before, and with quite a bit of coaxing
he finally came out for terrific pictures! He upstaged the flock of Lark
Sparrows... Also had a Pyrrhuloxia that I never saw, but heard it sing, so I
believe them enough to count it...

"Cinnamon-rumped" Seedeater, a candidate for a
split from White-collared

Went back to the hotel, cleaned up, then
boarded the bus to
El Fuerte. On the way out we picked up Cattle Egret,
Caracara, Black Vultures, and lots and lots of Sinaloa Crows. Barry thought he
saw a Gilded Flicker fly up on a telephone pole, so we pulled a "U"ie (quite a
feat for a bus that big on a little tiny road), and sure enough, that’s what
they were! So we all piled out for a better look (the locals were probably
amused) when suddenly someone spotted Magpie Jays! What birds!! On the way out
we were able to pull up to the tree where they landed for terrific views!

Enjoying the jays on
the way to El Fuerte

After that we just continued on in to El
Fuerte, where we checked into our quaint little hotel, which used to be a
hacienda in the old days (quite fancy, actually). Lunch was great, and
afterwards Rodrigo took us on a walking tour of the city, where we added a young
Red-tailed Hawk to the list, but he gave us a little history of the area as well
(but can I remember any of it?? Of course not!!!) There was also a
reconstruction of the "fuerte" on the hill! Shot some cooperative
Rough-winged Swallows on the way back to the hotel, and a pair of Cassin’s
Kingbirds on the church steeple!

The plaza at El Fuerte with wooden
tree carvings depicting the local wildlife

Rodrigo enthusiastically tells us
about the
city’s history while Barry keeps an eye out for more birds...

A Northern Rough-winged Swallow
rests on a rock face while a pair
of Cassin’s Kingbirds claim the cross on the town church!

After a short break we headed down to
the river, after which I said to Judy (I think) that I’d never go down there by
myself! This is a very poor area and there’s trash and barking dogs all over,
but the habitat was wonderful, and right away we picked up new trips
birds such as Western and Thick-billed Kingbirds, and a Cooper’s Hawk that
whizzed by. As we headed down the path, Helene spotted a young Bare-throated
Tiger Heron sitting exposed! Everyone got striking looks, and Mark even let me
try and take a shot through his scope! What a bird! Other riverside birds
included a Caspian Tern patrolling the area and a Neotropic Cormorant floating
down the river. A Spotted Sandpiper sat on some dead sticks smack in the middle!
A Yellowthroat came tearing in to Brian’s owl whistle, and he also found a
MacGillivray’s Warbler which I never saw, but plenty of Lucy’s came in instead,
as well as a cooperative Wilson’s.

Barry and Brian search for goodies
along the El Fuerte River

L-R: Young Bare-throated Tiger
Heron (taken through the scope), the familiar Wilson's Warbler, and a Neotropic
Cormorant (not taken through the scope...)

Down on river level, we found an open
field with a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers teed up on dead sticks, and a couple
of Social Flycatchers, doing their mini-flicker cleahs! Barry found a
knock-out Hooded Oriole in a distant tree, but we were already on our way when
Brian spotted a Black-vented, which was a first for the tour!! Yay! We insisted
that that called for a free round of whatever, but Barry didn’t buy it (no pun
intended)! While back there we also added Verdin and Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
Heading down a little side road a Black-throated Gray Warbler came overhead
while Barry was trying to coax out a Green-tailed Towhee (who eventually posed
nicely on a post) and a knockout Pyrrhuloxia posed in a bush with a shrike next
door. On the way back Barry heard another Happy Wren, so we crashed a field and
played the tape, and miracle of miracles, he actually showed himself! He was
looking straight at me so I got a great view of his striped face! Unfortunately
Helene couldn’t get on him, so we’d have to hope for another chance the
following day. But overall it was another 70+ species day! Had a great dinner
afterwards; I just had ice cream cuz I was still full from lunch (Brian was
rather incredulous that that was my entree), but oh boy did that taste good!